Interview with Joe Diffie

Interview
with Joe Diffie
Your last album was a Bluegrass, why
did you choose Bluegrass?
It is just something I always loved.
Before I moved to Nashville I was in a Bluegrass Band, we played
about six years together. So when I had the Opportunity to do this, I
jumped at the chance.
Was this your first Bluegrass album?
Yes it was my first Bluegrass album
since I moved to Nashville. It worked out well, the time was right.
Please tell me about the songs that
are on that album.
I wrote about three or four of the
songs that are on there. The album is called Homecoming. It is all
about going back to my roots. I tried to find some songs that talk
about family, rural life, mailboxes, whatever. We got some great
songs on there, one of my favorite songs is called Route 5 Box 109.
It’s an actual address of one of the writers of the song. It talks
about his parents, his mom, biscuits, very rural stuff. Real country
stuff.
Which songs did you actually write?
I wrote „Tennessee Tea“ and about
three more.
What has been your greatest
challenge in your career?
I think the longevity of it, I’ve
been lucky to do this for so long. The challenging part is to try to
keep things going, to keep it moving.
What are your greatest influences?
I’d have to say my parents first of
all. My Dad was a self taught musician, he plays Piano, Banjo and
Guitar, my Grandpa played Fiddle and Guitar and Grandma played Piano.
Musically my influences where George
Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Tom T. Hall, I
had a lot of influences.
Ist there anything special that
really stands out in your career?
Yes, definitely, being invitet to be a
member of the Grand Ol’ Opry was one of the biggest thrills. That
is something that stands out for me. Also receiving a humanitarian
award from the Country Radio Broadcasters, that was very moving for
me too.
If you had the chance to change
something in your life, what would that be?
I’d be taller and skinnier.
Seriously, I belive, anything bad or not so good happening, does have
a purpose behind it. Later on you think ahhh that is why I had to go
thru that .
Do you have a favorite song?
From the ones that I recorded, it is
probably the Song „Ships That Don’t Come In“. That is
definitely one of my favorites. It is a very pointed song, it has a
lot of deep meaning to it and it means a lot of different things to
different people. I really love singing that song.
Did you write that song?
No, Paul Nelson and Dave Gibson wrote
that.
What is your biggest disappointment?
I don’t know, most of the times I try
to be an optimist, I take things as they come, I really have not been
too disappointed in anything.
Please tell us about the Road House
Show in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Oh that was me, Tracy Lawrence and Mark
Chesnutt. We had a great time, everyone in Gstaad made us really feel
welcome. The Mountains and surroundings are so beautiful and the fans
there are really into the music. We really felt good there.
Have you ever been anyplace else in
Europe?
No I have not, Gstaad is the only place
I have been.
Have you done anything like this
Road House Show here in the States?
Yes, actually right now we are doing an
accoustic show with Aaron Tippin and Sammy Kershaw. We’ve done
about 40 or 50 of these shows, it has gone over real well. We are all
up on stage, talk about the songs and kid each other, we just have a
lot of fun and there are huge crowds of people coming to see the
show.
Do you go on tour like that?
Yes, mostly we do these tours in fall
and wintertime and the early part of the year. All three of us have
our Bands that we go and do our own thing with during the rest of the
year.
Are you appearing somewhere during
the CMA Week?
Yes, I played at the Riverfront stage
yesterday. Today I’m doing Interviews. I’ve done things everyday
actually. But I have to leave today for Las Vegas as I have a show
there tomorrow night.
Is there anyplace special that you
have not played, that you really would like to play?
I would like to play more places in
Europe because I know I have a lot of great fans over there. Maybe
someday we can get something coordinated for us to do several shows
over there.
Ist here anything you would like to
change if you could do so?
No, not really, I’ve been pretty
lucky this has lasted so long for me, I just follow the path and see
where it leads me.
Do you live in Nashville?
Yes I do, I’m originally from
Oklahoma, which is a 12 Hour drive to Nashville, I’ve lived here
since the end of 1986.
Are you now with a new Label?
Yes I am, I’m with a Label called
Bigger Picture, they are a very enthusiastic group. I just began to
meet – and interact with all of them. I like their enthusiasm and
energy, it’s really exciting for me. It has been a while since I
had a song on the radio, so we are pretty excited that we have a new
song, the name of it is called „Girl Riding Shotgun“. It is
really a fun song, I did it with Derek Thrasher from the Jawga Boyz.
He does kind of hip hop and rap stuff. But he is just an ol’
country Boy, he is such a good guy, I really like him. We got
togehter and wrote this song, not thinking much about it and next
thing we knew, all these people at the label are getting all excited
and saying oh it’s cool, we got to do something with that. That is
how we got to this point.
Is this already released?
It’s a single and was released about
two days ago on the radio, it is up on YouTube and ITunes, so check
it out. We also shot a video for it, the video should come out about
next week.
Are you working on another new album
now?
Yes, we are, this single will be
included in it also. It probably will have about eight greatest hits
and 4 to 5 new songs.
Anything else you would like to tell
your European fans?
Yes, you all come and see us and
hopefully we get over there again real soon.
Interview: Heidi Duss for Country Music News International

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